System and method for navigating between user interface elements

ABSTRACT

A method is provide that comprises detecting an incoming or outgoing call; and sending data to a paired device for displaying a plurality of elements associated with the call in a user interface on the paired device prior to connecting the call, the plurality of elements having been obtained from a plurality of sources accessible to the mobile device. Another method is provided, which comprises receiving data from the mobile device for displaying a plurality of elements associated with the call in a user interface on a paired device prior to connecting the call, the plurality of elements having been obtained from a plurality of sources accessible to the mobile device; and displaying the plurality of elements in a user interface on the paired device using the data received from the mobile device.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/397,533 filed on Feb. 15, 2012, which claims priority from U.S.Provisional Patent Application Nos. 61/548,145 filed on Oct. 17, 2011;61/555,836 filed on Nov. 4, 2011; and 61/555,984 filed on Nov. 4, 2011;the contents of these applications being incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following relates to systems and methods for managing electronicgroups.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Computing devices or systems providing user interfaces (UIs) on adisplay to enable users to interact with the computing devices orsystems traditionally separate functionality and operability intodistinct applications. For example, messages may be accessed through amessages inbox or application UI, calendar events may be accessedthrough a calendar application UI, instant messaging (IM) conversationsmay be accessed through an IM application, social networking updates maybe accessed through the messages inbox UI or a social networkingapplication UI, etc.

The separation of data items associated with the functionally andoperability of the computing device or system into differentapplications creates a virtual barrier between the data items. Forexample, if a user wishes to view a calendar appointment associated witha message they are currently viewing, the user would typically navigatefrom the messages application UI to the calendar application UI and findthe particular calendar appointment. On computing devices havingrelatively smaller displays, such as smart phones, tablet computers,portable gaming systems, and the like, having to navigate betweenapplications in this way can be cumbersome and time consuming. Moreover,the user may inadvertently forget where they are navigating to and havedifficulty returning to the previous application UI.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples will now be described with reference to the appended drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a UI navigation flowutilizing dossier UIs;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a communication system;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of a configuration for a mobiledevice operable to provide dossier UIs;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed in enabling a UI navigation flowbetween dossier UIs, application UIs and data item UIs;

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of an example messages inbox UI;

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of an example individual dossier UI;

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of an example messages inbox UI;

FIG. 8 is a screen shot of an example message UI;

FIG. 9 is a screen shot of an example meeting dossier UI;

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of an example individual dossier UI;

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of an example meeting dossier UI;

FIG. 12 is a screen shot of an example message UI;

FIG. 13 is a screen shot of an example message reply UI;

FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example meeting dossier UI;

FIG. 15 is a screen shot of an example individual dossier UI;

FIG. 16 is a screen shot of an example IM conversation UI;

FIG. 17 is a screen shot of an example group event dossier UI;

FIG. 18 is a screen shot of an example browser UI;

FIG. 19 is a screen shot of an example individual dossier UI;

FIG. 20 is a screen shot of an example IM conversation UI;

FIG. 21 is a screen shot of an example group dossier UI;

FIG. 22 is a pictorial view of two paired mobile devices;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of an example of a configuration for a mobiledevice operable to utilize dossier UIs for enhanced calleridentification ID;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of an example of a configuration for a mobiledevice operable to utilize dossier UIs for enhanced calleridentification ID and operable to provide dossier UI data to a paireddevice;

FIG. 25 is a pictorial view of two paired mobile devices displayingdossier UIs for providing enhanced caller ID during an incoming call;

FIG. 26 is a pictorial view of two paired mobile devices displayingdossier UIs during an ongoing call;

FIG. 27 is a pictorial view of two paired mobile devices displayingdossier UIs after a call has ended;

FIG. 28 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed by a called device in using dossier UIsto provide enhanced caller ID;

FIG. 29 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed by a paired device in using dossier UIsto provide enhanced caller ID;

FIG. 30 is a screen shot of an example enhanced caller ID UI for anincoming call comprising an individual dossier UI;

FIG. 31 is a screen shot of an example individual dossier UI displayedby a paired device;

FIG. 32 is a screen shot of an example call screen UI for an ongoingcall;

FIG. 33 is a screen shot of an example individual dossier UI displayedby a paired device during an ongoing call;

FIG. 34 is a screen shot of an example prompt displayed by a paireddevice after a call has ended;

FIG. 35 is a block diagram of an example of a configuration for a mobiledevice operable to utilize dossier UIs for enhanced calleridentification ID associated with a conference or group call;

FIG. 36 is a pictorial view of a called device and a paired deviceduring an incoming conference or group call wherein the paired devicedisplays individual and group dossier UIs;

FIG. 37 is a pictorial view of a called device and a paired deviceduring an incoming conference or group call wherein the paired devicedisplays a list of call attendees for displaying dossier UIs on thepaired devices;

FIG. 38 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed by a called device in determiningdossier UIs associated with a caller;

FIG. 39 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed in displaying dossier UIs wheninitiating an outgoing call;

FIG. 40 is a schematic diagram of an example communication systemincluding a cloud computing infrastructure;

FIG. 41 is a block diagram of an example configuration of a mobiledevice operable to communicate in an electronic group;

FIG. 42 is a screen shot of an example of a location-based group UI;

FIG. 43 is a screen shot of an example of a group update UI;

FIG. 44 is a screen shot of an example of a car pool group UI;

FIG. 45 is a screen shot of an example of a new group task UI;

FIG. 46 is a screen shot of an example of a car pool group UI includinga task list portion;

FIG. 47 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed in creating a new location-basedelectronic group;

FIG. 48 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed in removing a member from alocation-based electronic group;

FIG. 49 is a flow chart illustrating example computer executableoperations that may be performed in enabling a new group task to becreated; and

FIG. 50 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configurationfor a mobile device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated amongthe figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Inaddition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the examples described herein. However, itwill be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that theexamples described herein may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures andcomponents have not been described in detail so as not to obscure theexamples described herein. Also, the description is not to be consideredas limiting the scope of the examples described herein.

It will be appreciated that the examples and corresponding diagrams usedherein are for illustrative purposes only. Different configurations andterminology can be used without departing from the principles expressedherein. For instance, components and modules can be added, deleted,modified, or arranged with differing connections without departing fromthese principles.

To provide a more convenient navigation flow between user interfaceitems, an amalgamated “dossier” view may be provided. Such a dossierview incorporates multiple links to item UIs, application UIs, and otherdossier views to enable pivoting between related UIs and navigationthrough and around a connected social or business network without havingto individually access each application UI and search or otherwiselocate the desired item UIs, application UIs, or other dossier views.

It has also been found that when receiving a call on a mobile device,current caller ID functions generally provide only minimal detailsrelated to the caller, such as the phone number and, if available, thename and a picture associated with the caller. Although such informationmay assist in identifying the caller, by providing additionalinformation such as a dossier view or modified version thereof during anincoming call screen, the recipient can better understand the context ofthe call and his/her relationship with the caller.

While participating in a call (e.g., direct call, group call, conferencecall, etc.), it can be time consuming to obtain detailed informationassociated with the other call attendee(s) to facilitate communicationsand coordination with the call attendee(s). For example, one may need toaccess a corporate directory or social networking system to obtaindetailed information about the call attendee(s) and recent interactionsor relevant associations, e.g., to see what has been posted, recentactivities, profile pages, calendars, call logs, messages, group lists,etc. Moreover, it may be unclear which if any of these directories orsystems will provide useful information concerning the call attendee(s).By providing additional information in, for example, a dossier view on apaired device, the recipient would have relevant information about thecall attendee(s) available without having to search for such relevantinformation. Navigation between item UIs, application UIs, and dossierviews can also be facilitated during a call.

It has also been found that although both temporary and longer termgroups may form dynamically in a real-world setting, often creatingcorresponding electronic groups can be time consuming or may not occurat all, particularly temporary groups. Additionally, when the need for agroup ends, the group typically needs to be manually deleted and thusmay persist longer than the group is needed. To facilitate groupcommunications, automatic group creation, automatic modification (e.g.,removal of a member), and automatic deletion of electronic groups can beimplemented by detecting events that correspond to creation,modification, and deletion events. In addition to facilitating groupcommunications on personal mobile devices, by creating and making thegroup available in a cloud computing environment, users may seamlesslytransition to other devices and access the same group data in order tocontinue participating in the electronic group in different scenariosand environments. For example, a user may wish to update group data froma desktop computer instead of a mobile device and access to the cloudcomputing environment facilitates such an update.

An example of an update to the group data includes the creation of atask which can be assigned to other members of the group or the entiregroup itself. Newly created tasks, and the associated information forthat task may then be available to other members of the group, includingaccess through the cloud computing environment.

The creation, modification, and deletion of groups, as well as thecreation of tasks for a group can be incorporated into group dossier UIsto enhance the navigation flows herein described.

Turning now to FIG. 1, various example UI navigation flows are shown toillustrate navigation into and out of UIs through links or otheridentifiers included in the UIs and the amalgamation of a plurality ofdata items associated with an individual or group of individuals in asingle UI. Hereinafter UIs comprising multiple data items that areassociated with the same individual or group of individuals may becommonly referred to as a “dossier” UI for the sake of clarity.Similarly a navigation into one UI and back to the previous UI may becommonly referred to as “pivot” for the sake of clarity. Groups ashereinafter described may refer to any association of more than oneindividual and may be used to commonly refer to both short term or eventrelated groups (e.g., a meeting, appointment or occasion) and groupingsbased on associations between individuals, which may be persistent orotherwise longer term than something tied to a temporally affectedevent.

An application UI 10 is shown in FIG. 1 which illustrates a traditionalUI that has been developed to perform one or more particular functionsand may utilize and/or provide one or more items 12. For example, theapplication UI 10 may display items 12 representing messages, statusupdates, calendar invites and responses, etc. FIG. 1 also illustrates anitem UI 14 which represents a displayed element that, in this example,may be launched, opened, or otherwise displayed after detecting an inputassociated with the item 12 provided in the application UI 10. Bystoring or obtaining data associated with the items 12 individually, thecorresponding item UIs 14 may be accessed and displayed via other UIs asdescribed below. In this way, a user can pivot between item UIs 14 anddossier views to more conveniently navigate between items 12 that sharecontext with each other, an individual, a group of individuals or areotherwise related or associated with each other. An individual dossierUI 16 and a group dossier UI 17 are also shown in FIG. 1. The dossierUIs 16, 17 amalgamate a plurality of links or identifiers (hereinaftercommonly referred to as “links” for the sake of clarity) associated witha plurality of items 12, from at least one data source 40 (see also FIG.2 described below), which when selected, navigate the user to theassociated item UI 14. Various links are shown in FIG. 1, and it may beappreciated that those shown are for illustrative purposes only.

Various navigation flows and/or flow segments are shown in FIG. 1, whichare given labels or reference numerals 1 through 9. Flow 1 illustrates atraditional UI flow wherein after detecting selection of an item 12 inan application UI 10, an associated first item UI 14 is displayed. Insuch a traditional UI flow, the user may navigate back to theapplication UI 10, e.g., by closing the first item UI 14. As discussedabove, traditional UI flows typically require that the user navigate outof or away from one application UI 10 and to another application UI 10in order to access and/or display a second item UI 14′. To provide amore convenient navigation flow, a dossier view may be provided, whichincorporates multiple links to item UIs 14, application UIs 10, andother dossier views to enable pivoting between related UIs andnavigation through and around a connected social or business networkwithout having to individually access each application UI 10 and searchor otherwise locate the desired item UIs 14, application UIs 10, orother dossier views.

Flow 2 illustrates an example navigation flow between an application UI10 and an individual dossier UI 16 which amalgamates links to items 12and/or item UIs 14 associated with each other according to at least onepredetermined criterion. In the example shown, selection of Item 1 (or aportion thereof) pivots the display to the individual dossier UI 16. Forexample, by tapping or selecting a name associated with a message mayopen an individual dossier UI 16 corresponding to a contact in a contactlist or address book corresponding to the name selected. As discussedbelow, pivoting back to the previous view, in Flow 2, the application UI10, may be performed in various ways. For example, the user may navigateback to the previous view by selecting a cancel or “back” button,convenience key, soft key or other link. The individual dossier UI 16may also include an application identifier 18 (App), which whenselected, navigates back to the application UI 10. It can be appreciatedthat the application identifier 18 can be used both to pivot back to theapplication UI 10 (e.g., in scenarios wherein the previous view providedthe application UI 10), and to continue a navigation flow into theapplication UI 10 (e.g., in scenarios wherein the previous view was notthe application UI 10). Flow 3 in FIG. 1 illustrates a navigation fromthe individual dossier UI 16 to the application UI 10.

Flow 4 illustrates an example wherein an item link 20 provided in theindividual dossier UI 16 may be selectable to enable navigation directlyto the first item UI 14. Flow 5 illustrates an example wherein a dossierlink 24 (Doss) is provided in the first item UI 14 to enable a pivotback to the individual dossier UI 16 or a further navigation flowsegment towards the individual dossier UI 16. As discussed above, it canbe appreciated that a pivot from the first item UI 14 back into theindividual dossier UI 16 may be performed in various ways. It can alsobe appreciated that predetermined inputs may also be used toautomatically navigate from an item UI 14 back into its associatedapplication UI 10. For example, by closing the first item UI 14 in amanner similar to a traditional navigation may direct the user back tothe application UI 10.

Flow 6 illustrates an example wherein a group link 24 provided in thefirst item UI 14 may be selectable to enable navigation from the firstitem 14 UI into the group dossier UI 17. Similarly, Flow 7 illustratesan example wherein another item link 20′ provided in the group dossierUI 17 may be selectable to enable navigation from the group dossier UI17 into the first item UI 14. Flows 6 and 7 therefore illustrate thatthe first item UI 14 may be accessed from various UIs by associatingitem links 20, 20′ with, for example, dossier UIs 16, 17. Flow 8illustrates that the dossier UIs 16, 17 may also include links to otherdossier UIs. In the example shown in FIG. 1, another group link 24′ tothe group dossier UI 17 is provided in the individual dossier UI 16 toenable a pivot between, or a navigation segment from, the individualdossier UI 16 into the group dossier UI 17. Flow 9 illustrates that yetanother item link 26 may be provided in an item UI 14 to enable a userto navigate directly between the first item UI 14 and the second item UI14′. For example, reference to the second item or the second item UI 14′may be detected and the second item link 26 inserted accordingly toenable selection thereof to navigate directly from the first item UI 14to the second item UI 14′.

It can be appreciated that the UI navigation flows and segmentsillustrated in FIG. 1 may be applicable to UIs displayed by anyelectronic computing device, including mobile electronic devices.Examples of applicable mobile electronic devices may include, withoutlimitation, cellular phones, smart-phones, tablet computers, wirelessorganizers, personal digital assistants, laptops, handheld wirelesscommunication devices, wirelessly enabled notebook computers, portablegaming devices, and the like. Such devices will hereinafter be commonlyreferred to as “mobile devices” 32 for the sake of clarity. It willhowever be appreciated that the principles described herein are alsosuitable to other electronic computing devices, e.g. “non-mobile”devices. Such other devices will hereinafter be commonly referred to as“computing devices” 33 for the sake of clarity. For example, theprinciples herein are equally applicable to personal computers (PCs),tabletop computing devices, wall-mounted screens such as kiosks, or anyother computing device 35.

Referring to FIG. 2, an example of a communication system 30 is shown.The communication system 30, in this example, enables, at least in part,mobile devices 32 to communicate with other mobile devices 32 and othercomputing devices 33, via a wireless network 34. For example, as shown,data items 36 may be exchanged between various mobile devices 32 andcomputing devices 33. Data items 36 that are sent from one mobile device32 to another mobile device 32 may be transmitted according to aparticular messaging or communication medium, protocol, or othermechanism. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, data items 36 may be sentover the wireless network 34 via a component of a network infrastructure38. The network infrastructure 38 can include various systems that maybe used by the mobile devices 32 to exchange data items 36. For example,a peer-to-peer (P2P) system, a short message service centre (SMSC), anemail system (e.g. web-based, enterprise based, or otherwise), a websystem (e.g. hosting a website or web service), a host system (e.g.enterprise server), social networking system, etc., may be provided byor within or be otherwise supported or facilitated by the networkinfrastructure 38. The mobile devices 32 and other computing devices 33may therefore send data items 36 to, or receive data items 36 from,other mobile devices 32 or computing devices 33, via one or moreparticular systems with which the mobile devices 32 and computingdevices 33 are communicable via the wireless network 34 (or othernetwork—not shown), and network infrastructure 38. It can be appreciatedthat computing devices 33 may also communicate with each other overother networks (also not shown).

FIG. 2 also illustrates that data items 36 may be provided by or storedby one or more data sources 40 being external to the mobile device 32.As discussed below, data items 36 may also be stored and provided to themobile device 32 from an online service, e.g., on a server or datacentre, including data items 36 that originate or originally reside onthe mobile device 32, e.g., call logs.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a configuration for a mobile device 32operable to provide navigate flow capabilities between application UIs10, item UIs 14, and dossier UIs 16, 17, e.g., as demonstrated inFIG. 1. The mobile device 32 comprises a dossier view module 46 whichincludes, for illustrative purposes, a dossier view engine 48 thatincludes or otherwise has access to a memory 50 for storing data items36 associated with items 12 and item UIs 14 displayed by the mobiledevice 32 in one or more UIs. The dossier view engine 48 includes or hasaccess to (as shown) a dossier UI module 52 which may be used togenerate dossier UIs 16, 17 using the data items 36 obtained and, ifnecessary processed, by the dossier view engine 48. The dossier viewengine 48 may obtain the data items 36 from data sources 40 residing onthe mobile device 32, such as application data components 42, or anyother data source 40 on the mobile device 32 or external thereto. Forexample, the dossier view engine 48 may be operable to access socialnetworking systems external to the mobile device 32 to determine mutualcontacts, relevant status updates or other information. It can beappreciated that the dossier view engine 48 may also download, pull orotherwise obtain data items 36 from data sources 40 in real-time ornear-real-time and thus may not need to store at least some of the dataitems 36 used in generating the dossier UIs 16, 17. It can also beappreciated that the dossier view engine 48 may instead reside online,e.g., on a server, data centre, or other component of the networkinfrastructure 38, wherein the mobile device 32 is operable to accessthe data items 36 via one or more application programming interfaces(APIs).

As shown in FIG. 3, the mobile device 32 may include at least onecommunication subsystem 44 for accessing external data sources 40 and/orto obtain data items 36 for application data components 42. It can beappreciated that the application data components 42 may represent anymemory element used for storing data items 36 for an application. Forexample, data items 36 may be stored by a person information management(PIM) function or tool.

A number of applications 56 are shown in FIG. 3, which include anapplication UI 10 and a number of individual item UIs 14 (e.g., an inboxUI and message UIs). The applications 56 are communicable with a displaycomponents 62 for rendering UI elements on a display 62 of the mobiledevice 32 (see also FIG. 21 described below). It can be appreciated fromthe dashed lines shown by way of example in FIG. 3 that the dossier UIs16, 17 generated by the dossier UI module 52 enable navigation betweenitem UIs 14 and application UIs 10 displayed by the mobile device 32 ina more direct and convenient manner. In this way, navigation flows suchas those shown in FIG. 1 may be enabled on the mobile device 32.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example set of computer executable operations thatmay be performed in enabling navigation flows between dossier UIs 16,17, item UIs 14, and application UIs 10 as described above. At 80 thedossier view engine 48 obtains data items 36 from at least one datasource 40 and generates at least one dossier UI 16, 17 at 82. It can beappreciated that the same data item 36 may be used in generatingmultiple dossier UIs 16, 17. For example recent activities associatedwith a particular contact may be utilized in both an individual dossierUI 16 for that contact and a group dossier UI 17 associated with a groupincluding that contact. The dossier UIs 16, 17 may be stored by thedossier UI module 52 and access thereto provided at 84. This accessenables an input or event to trigger display of a dossier UI 16, 17 at86. As discussed above, a dossier UI 16, 17 may include not only itemlinks but also links to other dossier UIs 16, 17. The dossier viewmodule 46 may be operable to determine at 88 whether or not a link toanother dossier UI 16, 17 has been selected. If so, a different dossierUI 16, 17 is displayed at 90. If a link to another dossier UI 16, 17 hasnot be selected, the dossier view module 46 may be operable to determinewhether or not an item link has been selected at 92. If so, theassociated item UI 14 may be displayed. In FIGS. 4 Y1 and Y2 branchesare shown to illustrate that navigation may proceed to the item UI 14displayed at 102 (discussed below) or to another item UI 14 displayed at108 (also discussed below). If no dossier or item links are selected,the dossier view module 46 may continue to display the current dossierUI 16, 17 at 86.

The mobile device 32 in the example shown in FIG. 4 is also operable toprovide at least one application UI 10 at 94 and to display any suchapplication UI at 96, e.g., by detecting selection of an icon or anavigation segment as illustrated in FIG. 1. Also, as discussed above,an application UI 10 may include not only item links but also links todossier UIs 16, 17. When an application UI 10 is being displayed, thedossier view module 46 may be operable to determine at 98 whether or nota link to a dossier UI 16, 17 has been selected. If so, the dossier viewmodule 46 navigates to the dossier UI 16, 17 displayed at 86 or 90. If alink to a dossier UI 16, 17 has not be selected, the dossier view module46 may be operable to determine whether or not an item link has beenselected at 100. If so, the associated item UI 14 may be displayed at102. As discussed above, an item UI 14 may include not only links todossier UIs 16, 17, but also item links. The dossier view module 46 maybe operable to determine at 104 whether or not a dossier link has beenselected. If so, navigation may proceed to the dossier UI 16, 17displayed at 86 or 90. If a dossier link has not been selected, thedossier view module 46 may be operable to determine at 106 whether ornot an item link has been selected. If not, the dossier view module 46may be operable to continue to display the item UI 14 at 102. If an itemlink has been selected, the dossier view module 46 may navigate to adifferent item UI 14 at 108. It can be appreciated that although notshown in FIG. 4, an item UI 14 may also include links to application UIs10 and the dossier view module 46 may be operable to determine whetheror not such links have been selected. In this example, it is assumedthat navigation from an item UI 14 to an application UI 10 occursthrough closing or pivoting back from an item UI 14.

FIGS. 5 to 21 provide various example screen shots to illustratenavigation flows in the manner shown, for example, in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a messages inbox UI 120 displaying anumber of message items 122. It can be appreciated that the messagesinbox UI 120 may correspond to a single application such as an emailinbox, or provide a “unified” inbox for displaying message items 122 fora plurality of media, e.g., email, IMs, text messages, calendarmessages, etc. and illustrates an example application UI 10. In theexample shown in FIG. 5, each message item 122 displayed in the messagesinbox UI 120 includes an identifier 124 and a message details portion126. It can be appreciated that, as shown in FIG. 5, the message detailsportion may include various data, such as a name associated with asender of the message item 122, a message preview, etc. It can also beappreciated that the identifier 124 may include various items such as anavatar, a medium-specific icon (e.g., IM icon for IMs, envelope foremails, calendar for calendar items, etc.). Moreover, as illustrated inFIG. 5, the identifier 124 may include multiple elements, in thisexample, a first identifier 124 a and a second identifier 124 b. Forexample, the first identifier 124 a may include a medium-specific iconand the second identifier 124 b may include an icon related to aspecific group or event from which the message item 122 was generated.Each message item 122 may therefore have a number of associatedattributes that can be linked to other UI elements. For example, byselecting the name indicated in the message details portion 126 of aparticular message item 122 may initiate the display of an individualdossier UI 16 associated with the contact corresponding to the selectedname, as shown in FIG. 6.

The individual dossier UI 16 shown in FIG. 6 includes an individual'sdetails portion 132, a contact individual portion 134 with a number ofcontact buttons 136 representing corresponding media by which theindividual may be contacted, a real-time activity portion 138 includinga number of the most recent interactions 140 associated with theindividual, a recent activity portion 142 including less recentinteractions 144 associated with the individual, a relationship portion146 identifying the individual's relationship (if any) to the user ofthe mobile device 32, a mutual contacts portion 148, a locationidentifier 150 for the individual, and a mutual events portion 152. Eachelement shown in FIG. 6 may be utilized as a link to an item UI 14,application UI 10, or different dossier UI 16, 17. It can be appreciatedthat the elements shown in FIG. 6 are for illustrative purposes only. Byway of example, the contact buttons 136 may correspond to voice (phone),IM, email, calendar invites, text messaging, etc. The most recentinteractions 140 and less recent interactions 144 may include, withoutlimitation, social networking updates (e.g., posts, comments, messages),voicemails, meetings or appointments, social networking feeds, IMs,emails, text messages, location updates, etc. The relationship portion146 may include past or current associations between the user of themobile device 32 and the individual, and the individual's detailsportion 132 may include contact details pulled from a contact list oraddress book. As discussed above, the item links displayed in theindividual dossier UI 16 may correspond to data items 36 available onthe mobile device 32 as well as from any available data source 40 suchas a social network infrastructure.

The individual dossier UI 16 may also provide a pivot button 154 forconvenient “pivoting” back to the previous UI. In the example shown inFIGS. 5 and 6, selection of the pivot button 154 would navigate the userback to the messages inbox UI 120. The pivot button 154 is an optionalfeature and the user may instead or additionally navigate back to themessages inbox UI 120 by selecting an application UI link, e.g., an iconincluded in a most recent interaction 140 associated with the messageitem 122 selected from the messages inbox UI 120 in FIG. 5. Other userexperience elements such as gestures may also be used to initiate anavigation or pivot from one UI to another. For example, as shown inFIG. 6, a backwardly directed “swipe” gesture 155 may be operable topivot back to the messages inbox UI 120. By selecting the application UIlink, the pivot button 154, or performing a swipe gesture 155 as shownin FIG. 6, dossier view module 46 pivots back to the messages inbox UI120 as shown in FIG. 7. In this way, the user is able to pivot to theindividual dossier UI 16 for a sender of message item 122 to obtainfurther context or information associated with the message item 122.This allows the user to respond to the message item 122 with a betterunderstanding of the context and background of the sender of the messageitem 122. In this example, by selecting the message preview portion ofthe message details 126, a message UI 160 may be displayed as shown inFIG. 8. The message UI 160 in this example includes a message header 162and a message body 164. The message UI 160 may also include one or moreidentifiers 168 that correspond to the identifiers 124 listed with themessage item 122 in the messages inbox UI 120. It can be appreciatedthat the message UI 160 illustrates an example item UI 14. The user maythen select a reply button 166 in the message header 162 to reply to themessage item 122.

An other example navigation flow is illustrated in FIGS. 9-14. FIG. 9illustrates a meeting dossier UI 17 a, which provides an example of agroup dossier UI 17, particularly a dossier UI related to an event oroccasion. As discussed above, it can be appreciated that the groupdossier UIs 17 may be used to provide a plurality of data itemsassociated with an event associated with a group of individuals, anorganized or implicit group of individuals (e.g., family, friends,etc.), or any other grouping that may, in some form, be associated withmore than one contact or individual. The meeting dossier UI 17 a in thisexample includes a meeting details portion 172, a contact group portion174 with a number of contact buttons 176 representing correspondingmedia by which the meeting invitees/attendees may be contacted, ameeting invitees portion 178 providing invitee identifiers 180 for themeeting invitees and a new invitation button 182 for inviting newinvitees, a group discussion portion 184, and an other data itemsportion 186. It can be appreciated that the elements shown in FIG. 9 arefor illustrative purposes only. For example, the meeting details portion172 may include meeting details obtained from a calendar appointmentassociated with the meeting dossier UI 17 a. As in FIG. 6, the contactbuttons 176 may correspond to voice (phone or conference), IM, email,calendar invites, text messaging, etc. The group discussion portion 184may include an ongoing IM conversation, other embedded chat feature, ora unified view of recent messages across several media. The groupdiscussion portion 184 or other data items portion 186 may also include,without limitation, social networking updates (e.g., posts, comments,messages), voicemails, social networking feeds, IMs, emails, textmessages, location updates, posted meeting materials, etc. In anexample, the user may begin typing in an open text box (not shown) inthe group discussion portion 184 and attach a file such as apresentation or other item that the user wishes to share with othermeeting attendees. When the user submits a comment and attachment, thegroup discussion portion 184 may be updated for the meeting dossier UI17 a for each meeting invitee/attendee and the attached file may beprovided or otherwise accessible through the other data items portion186. The other data items portion 186 may include various shared files,e.g., photos, presentations, spreadsheets, documents, etc., that anindividual in the group has shared with other members of the group.

After detecting selection of a particular meeting invitee identifier 180as shown in FIG. 9, the dossier view module 46 may navigate or pivot tothe individual dossier UI 16 for that individual as shown in FIG. 10.For example, the user may see that a certain individual is attending ameeting and wish to learn more about that individual. By pivotingbetween the meeting dossier UI 17 a and the individual dossier UI 16 asshown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the user may quickly determine comprehensiveinformation regarding interactions had with that individual. Byselecting the mutual event (corresponding to the meeting details 172)from the mutual events portion 152 in the individual dossier UI 16 or byselecting the pivot button 154 or performing the swipe gesture 155 (ifavailable) as shown in FIG. 10, the dossier view module 46 can pivotback to the meeting dossier UI 17 a as shown in FIG. 11. In thisexample, it may be assumed that the user realized when viewing theindividual dossier view 16 in FIG. 10 that another individual should beinvited to the meeting. By locating and selecting a discussion item 188in the group discussion portion 184 in the meeting dossier UI 17 a asshown in FIG. 11, the dossier view module 46 can navigate directly to amessage UI 160 for that discussion item 188, as shown in FIG. 12. Inthis way, the user can quickly jump to the relevant message or itemrelated to the uninvited individual and by selecting the reply button166 can generate a new message as shown in FIG. 13, notifying theuninvited individual of the meeting before sending a new invite. Turningnow to FIG. 13, a message reply UI 190 is shown which includes a messagebody 192 composed by the user to notify the corresponding individual ofthe meeting and to provide notice that they will send another invite“just in case”. After detecting selection of a send button 194, thedossier view module 46 can pivot back to the meeting dossier UI 17 a asshown in FIG. 14 to enable the new invitation button 182 to be selected.By enabling navigation between item UIs 14 such as the message UI 160and message reply UI 190 and dossier UIs 16, 17, the user canconveniently determine meeting invitees, obtain further detailsregarding specific invitees, perform a first action to notify anuninvited individual, and perform a second action to invite or re-invitethat individual, without having to necessarily navigate into and out ofa number of application UIs 10.

An other example navigation flow is illustrated in FIGS. 15-20. FIG. 15illustrates an individual dossier UI 16 and selection of a less recentinteraction 144 from the recent activity portion 142. In this example,after detecting selection of the less recent interaction 144, an IMconversation UI 200 is displayed by the dossier view module 46 as shownin FIG. 16. The IM conversation UI 200 is another example of anapplication UI 10. The IM conversation UI 200 includes an incomingmessage 202, which is another example of an item 12 displayed in anapplication UI 10. The incoming message 202 shown in FIG. 16 includesmessage text comprising a group event link 204. It can be appreciatedthat the group event link 204 may be generated by the dossier viewengine 48 upon detecting an association between a portion of theincoming message 202 and a group dossier UI 17. For example, a keywordsearch of the incoming message 202 identifies that the “group event”mentioned corresponds to an established group dossier UI 17 for thatgroup event. After detecting selection of the group event link 204, agroup event dossier UI 17 b is displayed as shown in FIG. 17. It can beappreciated that item links, application links, and dossier links can beembedded in any UI element to enable navigation through or pivoting intoand out of various UIs.

The group event dossier UI 17 b includes a group event details portion212 listing the event details (e.g., charity event, time of event, dateof event, talent hired for event, etc.), a contact group portion 214with a number of contact buttons 216 representing corresponding media bywhich the group members may be contacted, a group members portion 218providing identifiers 220 for the group members and a new invitationbutton 222 for inviting new members to the group, a group discussionportion 224, and an other data items portion 228. It can be appreciatedthat the elements shown in FIG. 17 are for illustrative purposes only.As in FIGS. 6 and 9, the contact buttons 216 may correspond to voice(phone or conference), IM, email, calendar invites, text messaging, etc.The group discussion portion 224 may include various discussion items226, e.g., from an ongoing IM conversation, other embedded chat feature,or a unified view of recent messages across several media. The groupdiscussion portion 224 and/or other data items portion 228 may alsoinclude, without limitation, social networking updates (e.g., posts,comments, messages), voicemails, social networking feeds, IMs, emails,text messages, location updates, posted meeting materials, etc.

In this example, it may be assumed that the group event associated withthe group event dossier UI 17 b is a charity event. The charitycomprises a website and the website is linked or otherwise mentioned inthe group discussion item 226. After detecting selection of the groupdiscussion item 226, the dossier view module 46 may initiate a browserUI 230 as shown in FIG. 18 to display the charity's website. In thisexample, the charity's website displayed by the browser 230 includes aboard members portion 232 indicating board members 234 for the charity,and an event details portion 236 related to the group event. Bynavigating into the browser UI 230 in this way, the user may notice thatone of the board members 234 shown on the website is the contactassociated with the IM conversation UI 200 shown in FIG. 16. Byselecting the board member 234 as shown in FIG. 18, the dossier viewmodule 46 may then navigate into an individual dossier UI 16 for thatcontact as shown in FIG. 19. In this example, it can be assumed thatalthough the user's contact is a board member of the charity, they arenot included in the group associated with the group event dossier UI 17b shown in FIG. 17. After detecting a further selection of the lessrecent interaction 144 as shown in FIG. 19, the dossier view module 46may initiate the display of the IM conversation UI 200 as shown in FIG.20.

By enabling the user to navigate from the individual dossier UI 16 tothe IM conversation UI 200, to the group event dossier UI 17 b, to a website for the charity using the browser UI 230, back to the individualdossier UI 16 and again back to the IM conversation UI 200, the user cangain insightful context regarding the relationship between theindividual and the charity event associated with the group event.

As shown in FIG. 20, an outgoing message 206 sent to the individual caninclude a more meaningful reply by enabling the user to mention theboard member linkage between the charity and the individual. It can beappreciated that in order to obtain the context provided in thenavigation flow illustrated in FIGS. 15-20 using traditional UI flow,the user would be required to navigate between several application UIs10 and search for relevant items 12 in order to obtain the same contextabout the charity event and the individual that is on the board of thecharity. Such a time consuming and cumbersome navigation may not even beattempting being thus detrimental to the user experience. By providingdossier UIs 16, 17 and links to application UIs 10, item UIs 14, andother dossier UIs 16, 17, a convenient and intuitive experience isinstead provided.

As discussed above, group dossier UIs 17 can also be generated forgroups based on associations between the individuals rather than asingle event or meeting. FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a persistentgroup dossier UI 17 c, which may be generated for groups such as“friends from college”, “family members”, “sports team”, etc. In thisexample, the persistent group dossier UI 17 c includes a group nameportion 240, which may include other details pertaining to the group; agroup members portion 242, which may include identifiers 244 for eachgroup member (e.g., a photo or avatar), a recent activity portion 246,an upcoming events portion 248, an individuals nearby portion 250, whichmay be used to identify members from the group that are geographicallynearby; and various communication medium links 252, e.g., for accessingIM, email, calendar, voice, or other media that can be used to connector communicate with the other members of the group.

As discussed above, the mobile devices 32 shown in FIG. 2 are forillustrative purposes only. Mobile devices 32 may also interact withother devices. For example, a smart phone mobile device 32 may betethered or paired with another device. When devices are tethered orpaired with each other, often the devices are capable of, for example,displaying an application UI on the device having a large screen size,while using wireless connectivity of one of the devices to communicatevia the wireless network 34. It has also been recognized that theprinciples discussed herein may also be advantageously applied totethered or paired devices in order to enable convenient navigationbetween application UIs 10, item UIs 14, and dossier UIs 16, 17. Byhaving multiple devices and corresponding displays, multiple UIs can bedisplayed at the same time while enabling navigation or pivoting betweenthe devices to quickly and conveniently explore interconnectedapplications 36, items 12, and dossier-type collections of items 12.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of a tethered configuration, wherein asmart phone 32 is wirelessly tethered to a portable tablet computer 32′.The smart phone 32 includes a first display 62 and the tablet computer32′ includes a second display 62′. As shown in FIG. 22, the principlesdiscussed above can also be applied to utilize multiple displays 62, 62′such that, for example, a dossier UI 16, 17 can be displayed on thefirst display 62 while application UIs 10, 120, 200 and/or item UIs 14,160, 190, 230 are displayed on the second display 62′. In this way, theuser experience can be further enhanced by providing multiple views atthe same time while navigating and pivoting between UIs to direct afocus for interacting with particular elements.

For example, referring again to the example scenario illustrated inFIGS. 15 to 20, the individual dossier UI 16 may be displayed on thefirst display 62 to provide a pivot point or “anchor” for the UInavigation experience. When the user selects the recent activity item144 as shown in FIG. 15, the IM conversation UI 200 may be displayed onthe second device 62′ and persist until the user closes the UI. In thisway, multiple branches from an anchor displayed on the first display 62can be created. Similarly, selecting the link 204 as shown in FIG. 16may cause the group event dossier UI 17 b to also be displayed on thesecond display 62′, or could move the individual dossier UI 16 to thesecond display 62′ and display the group event dossier UI 17 b on thefirst display. This enables a current anchor to be displayed in the sameplace while updating other display areas as the navigation continues.For example, the browser UI 230 shown in FIG. 18 could also be displayedon the second display 62′ and the UIs rearranged when the user selectsthe individual dossier UI 16 again. For devices that utilize a touchscreen and that enable multiple applications to be both running anddisplayed at the same time (as illustrated in FIG. 22), the user is ablesee a number of UIs at a glance and touch or “tap” through a navigationand pivot between UIs. By enabling, for example, dossier UIs 16, 17 tobe anchored on one of the displays provided by multiple devices, theuser can intuitively navigate between UIs and across displays.

It can be appreciated that the examples described above are illustrativeonly. For example, the principles discussed herein may be applied toother computing devices (individually or in tethered/coupled/pairedarrangements) such as PCs, gaming terminals, kiosk displays, etc.

The principles discussed above regarding the amalgamation of UI elementsconcerning an individual or group (event based or persistent), can alsobe applied to enhancing other functions provided by a mobile device 32,such for displaying enhanced caller ID information.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example configuration for a mobile device 32 thatis operable to receive a phone call, hereinafter also referred to as a“called device”. At stage 1, incoming call data 254 is received via thecommunication subsystem 44 and detected by a caller ID module 256. Inthe example shown in FIG. 23, the incoming call data 254 includes atleast some information or data identifying the caller or that can beused to identify the caller (hereinafter referred to as an identifier(ID) for clarity). The caller ID module 256 may use the ID to provide anindication of the caller to the dossier view module 46 in stage 2. Byproviding such an indication, the dossier view module 46 can determineif an individual dossier UI 16 or a group dossier UI 17 exists or can becreated that is relevant to or associated with the caller. For example,if the caller corresponds to a stored contact, an individual dossier UI16 for that contact may be fetched or generated. It can be appreciatedthat if the caller is part of a group having an associated group dossierUI 17, and/or the incoming call relates to a conference call (discussedfurther below), the dossier view module 46 may also (or instead) providesuch a group dossier UI 17. It can also be appreciated that an existingdossier UI 16, 17 may also be modified or otherwise tailored for use inproviding enhanced caller ID. Similarly, customized dossier UIs may alsobe generated for enhanced caller ID, e.g., to provide fewer elementsthan a dossier UI 16, 17 displayed when not on a call. In this way, afew relatively easy to read elements can be displayed to enable a quickreview of the elements to make a decision while deciding whether or notto accept the incoming call while providing more detailed information atother times. Moreover, the elements of the dossier UI being used may bemodified depending on a categorization of the caller, e.g., businesscontact versus personal contact. In the example shown in FIG. 23, it isassumed that an individual dossier UI 16 for the caller is located orgenerated by the dossier view module 46 and provided to the caller IDmodule 256 at stage 3.

By obtaining the individual dossier UI 16 at stage 3, the caller IDmodule 256 can provide enhanced caller ID information at stage 4 bydisplaying an enhanced caller ID UI 16′ that includes or incorporates atleast some of the elements provided in the individual dossier UI 16,along with at least one option for connecting the call as describedbelow. In the example shown in FIG. 23 it is assumed that the useranswers the incoming call at stage 5 by providing an input using thedisplay 62 (e.g., by selecting a touch-sensitive display screen) oranother input device 258 such as a voice recognition module (not shown),track pad other key or button, etc. After the call has been answered bythe recipient, and the call is connected, the caller ID module 256 maybe operable to replace the enhanced caller ID UI 16′ with a call screen260 in order to provide various call details and call options asdescribed further below. It can be appreciated that the call screen 260may also be a modification of the enhanced caller ID UI 16′, wherein anyincoming call data or options (e.g., “answer” or “ignore” buttons) arereplaced with such call details and options while retaining the portionsof the individual dossier UI 16 provided with the enhanced caller ID UI16′.

Gathering information concerning the caller, such as by accessing adossier UI 16, 17, or having a dossier UI 16, 17 generated as describedherein, enables the caller ID module 256 to provide additional contextregarding the caller along with various other available data associatedwith the caller. In this way, the user may have immediate access torelevant details and information to increase productivity during thecall, make the call more meaningful and otherwise enhance the overallcall experience.

In addition to providing enhanced caller ID information on the calleddevice, as discussed above, the called device 32 may also be tethered toor paired to another device such as a tablet computer (e.g., as shown inFIG. 22), hereinafter a paired device 32′. FIG. 24 illustrates anexample of a configuration for a called device 32 and a paired device32′ operable to display enhanced caller ID information using bothdevices 32, 32′. As can be appreciated from FIG. 24, stages 1, 2 and 3may be performed in a manner similar to those shown in FIG. 23 anddescribed above. However, after obtaining an individual dossier UI 16for the caller in stage 3, the called device 32 in this exampledetermines that the called device 32 is paired to another device, namelythe paired device 32′. Since the called device 32 is paired to paireddevice 32′, the called device 32 may provide the individual dossier UI16, or data enabling creation of the individual dossier UI 16, to thepaired device 32′. At stage 4, the caller ID module 256 in this example,in addition to displaying an enhanced caller ID UI 16′ at stage 4 a asdescribed above, provides the individual dossier UI 16 or data enablingthe creation thereof to the paired device 32′ at stage 4 b using ashort-range communications subsystem 262. It can be appreciated that theshort-range communications subsystem 262 may generally represent anycommunicable connection between the called device 32 and the paireddevice 32′, including both wired connections (e.g., a Universal SerialBus (USB) cable) and wireless connections (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,infrared, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 24, the paired device 32′ may also have a caller IDmodule 256′ operable to communicate with the caller ID module 256 on thecalled device 32 in order to receive the individual dossier UI 16 via ashort-range communications subsystem 262′ of the paired device 32′. Thecaller ID module 256′ on the paired device 32′ may then display theindividual dossier UI 16 at stage 4 c using a display module 62′. It canbe appreciated that by sending data from the called device 32 to thepaired device 32′, e.g., an individual dossier UI 16, the recipient ofthe call may take advantage of the second display 62′ provided by thepaired device 32′. In scenarios wherein the paired device 32′ has arelatively larger display 62′ when compared to that of the called device32, not only is enhanced caller ID information provided, but therecipient can conveniently view and interact with information concerningthe caller to enhance the overall experience. In addition, by enablingpivoting between dossier UIs 16, 17, application UIs 10, and item UIs 14as described above, the enhanced caller ID UI 16′ can be used as anentry point into a interconnected domain associated with the caller,while currently communicating with that caller. In scenarios wherein thepaired device 32′ has access to the wireless network 34, an identifieror other data may be sent from the called device 32 to the paired device32′ to have the paired device 32′ access at least some data to be usedin displaying a dossier UI 16, 17 on the paired device 32′, from asource accessible via the wireless network 34. This access enables thepaired device 32′ to offload at least some processing and relievebandwidth burden on the called device 32. Moreover, by utilizing aconnection available on the paired device 32′, at least some datatransfer between the devices 32, 32′ can be avoided. For example, thecaller ID module 256′ on the paired device 32′ may be operable to accessthe Internet over a communication subsystem (not shown) on the paireddevice 32′ and incorporate elements obtained from the Internet into thedossier UI 16, 17 or data related thereto in generating an output to bedisplayed on the display 62′.

Similar to the example shown in FIG. 23, as shown in FIG. 24, it may beassumed that the user answers the incoming call at stage 5 by providingan input using the display 62 or another input device 258 and the callscreen 260 may be displayed at stage 6. FIG. 24 also illustrates thatthe individual dossier UI 16 displayed by the paired device 32′ may alsobe interacted with at stage 7, e.g., to navigate from the individualdossier UI 16 to other dossier UIs 16, 17, application UIs 10 and itemUIs 14 as described above.

FIG. 25 illustrates a called device 32 communicable with a paired device32′ at the time of receiving an incoming call at the called device 32.The called device 32 in this example displays an enhanced caller ID UI16′ that includes an answer button 264 to accept the incoming call andan ignore button 266 to ignore or otherwise reject or silence theincoming call. It can be appreciated that existing “answer” or “ignore”buttons or keys on the called device 32 may also be used to accept orreject an incoming call, in addition to, or instead of, the answerbutton 264 and ignore button 266 shown in FIG. 25. At the same time asdisplaying the enhanced caller ID UI 16′ on the called device 32, thepaired device 32′ displays the individual dossier UI 16 to provideadditional information related to the caller on a relatively largerdisplay 62′ while enabling the user to conveniently explore and navigatethrough the additional information, e.g., to determine whether or not toanswer the call by selecting the answer button 264 or to recall detailsassociated with the caller. In addition to recognizing the caller,further context can be provided to better prepare the user for the call.Since phone calls are active rather than passive, such preparation andcontext can be particularly advantageous.

FIG. 26 illustrates the called device 32 and the paired device 32′during a call. The called device 32 in this example displays a callscreen 260 that includes an end call button 268 to enable the user toterminate the ongoing call. During the call, the paired device 32′continues to display the individual dossier UI 16 and thus providesadditional information related to the caller on a relatively largerdisplay 62′ during the call. In the example shown in FIG. 26, it can beseen that during the call, the user may interact with the individualdossier UI 16 using the paired device 32′ to conveniently explore andnavigate through the additional information related to the caller, whilesimultaneously conversing with the caller using the called device 32.

FIG. 27 illustrates the called device 32 and the paired device 32′ aftera call ends. The called device 32 in this example displays theindividual dossier UI 16 or a modified individual dossier UI 16″(e.g.,reduced or truncated version of the individual dossier UI 16). In thisway, the user may follow up using another communication medium, explorefurther details and information related to the caller, etc. As shown inFIG. 27, the paired device 32′ may continue to display the individualdossier UI 16 after the call ends, or may automatically close theindividual dossier UI 16 in favor of displaying individual dossier UI 16on the called device 32, e.g., if the called device 32 is a primarycommunication device.

Turning now to FIG. 28, an example set of computer executable operationsis shown that may be executed by the called device 32 in providingenhanced caller ID. At 270, the caller ID module 256 detects incomingcall data 254 and determines an ID indicative of the caller and/or groupor event associated with the caller. The ID may then be used, at 272, todetermine from the dossier view module 46 if at least one correspondingdossier UI 16, 17 exists or can be generated. For example, the callermay be an existing contact or a member of an existing group and adossier UI 16, 17 may exist or be readily generated. Alternatively, itcan be appreciated that data accessible to the recipient of the callthat is related to the caller may also be accessed in order to generateat least a partial individual dossier UI 16 (e.g., social networkingprofiles, web pages, etc.). It can be appreciated that data accessibleto the recipient and related to the caller may include both publiclyavailable data and data that requires a credential or association orconnection between the recipient and the caller. For example, a socialnetworking connection may enable the recipient to utilize a credentialassociated with the social network to access data related to the callerthat would otherwise not be publicly available. The caller ID module 356determines, at 274, whether or not at least one dossier UI 16, 17 can beobtained that is associated with the caller. If not, an incoming callUI, including available data such as phone number and/or name may bedisplayed, at 276.

If at least one dossier UI 16, 17 can be obtained, the caller ID module256 determines at 278 whether or not the called device 32 is paired toanother device, e.g., the paired device 32′ shown in FIGS. 25-27. If thecalled device 32 is paired to a paired device 32′, data that enables thepaired device 32′ to display the at least one dossier UI 16, 17associated with the caller may be sent to the paired device 32′, at 280.It can be appreciated that the data sent, at 280, may be the dossierUI(s) 16, 17 or any data or information that enables the paired device32′ to generate an equivalent or similar UI. Whether or not the calleddevice 32 is currently paired, the caller ID module 256, in thisexample, displays the enhanced caller ID UI 16′, at 282, which providesboth enhanced caller ID information (e.g., by using at least someelements of a dossier UI 16, 17) and options to accept or ignore/rejectthe call. As discussed above, the elements of an existing dossier UI 16,17, or a dossier UI 16, 17 generated for displaying enhanced caller IDinformation may be adjusted according to a categorization of the caller.For example, a business contact may cause elements related to businessactivities to be displayed (e.g., business title, calendar appointments,etc.), whereas a call from a personal contact such as a friend may causepersonal or social elements to be displayed. It can be appreciated thatdifferent categorizations for the same contact may be implemented, e.g.,at different times of the day. In this way, business activities relatedto a co-worker friend may be displayed during working hours whereassocial elements and activities displayed after work hours.

The caller ID module 256 determines, at 284, whether or not the call isanswered. If the call is ignored, rejected, or otherwise not answered,the call is ended or otherwise not connected at 292. If the call isanswered, the caller ID module 256 displays the call screen 260, at 286,to provide call details and call options as discussed above. The callerID module 256 determines, at 288, whether or not the connected andongoing call has ended. If the call has not yet ended, the call screen260 may continue to be displayed at 286. Once the call has ended, an endof call message may be sent to the paired device 32′, at 290, ifapplicable for the particular call, and the call ends, at 292.

FIG. 29 illustrates an example set of computer executable operationsthat may be executed by the paired device 32′ in displaying one or moredossier UIs 16, 17 to complement or “take over” or “hand off” displayingthe enhanced caller ID information to the paired device 32′. At 294 thecaller ID module 256′ on the paired device 32′ receives data for atleast one dossier UI 16, 17 via the short-range communications subsystem262′. The dossier UI(s) 16, 17 is displayed, at 296, e.g., for theduration of the call. In this example, the paired device 32′ is notifiedby the called device 32 of the end of the call and the caller ID module256′ thus detects the end of call, at 298. It can be appreciated thatthe dossier UI(s) 16, 17 may instead be displayed upon receipt of thedata at 294 and persist until closed or terminated by the user. It canalso be appreciated that data in a dossier UI 16, 17 may be updatedduring the course of a call, e.g., if new events or related data aredetected during the call.

After detecting the end of the call, at 298, the caller ID module 256′in this example determines, at 300, if the user should be prompted tokeep the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 open or not. If a prompt is to beprovided, the prompt is displayed, at 302, and the caller ID module 256′determines, at 304, whether or not a selection from the prompt instructsthe paired device 32′ to keep the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 open, e.g., tofurther interact therewith. If the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 are to be keptopen control may return to 296. If the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 are not tobe kept open, the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 may be closed, at 306. It can beappreciated that instead of prompting the user whether or not to keepthe dossier UI(s) 16, 17 open, the caller ID module 256′ may be operableto either automatically keep the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 open orautomatically close them. In this example, the caller ID module 256′ inthe absence of using a prompt, determines at 308 whether or not thedossier UI(s) 16, 17 should be automatically kept open. If not, thedossier UI(s) 16, 17 are closed, at 306. If the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 areto be automatically kept open, the caller ID module 256 may continue todisplay the dossier UI(s) 16, 17, at 296.

FIGS. 30 and 31 illustrate example screen shots of an enhanced caller IDUI 16′ and an individual dossier UI 16 displayed by the called device 32and paired device 32′ respectively at the time of the called device 32receiving a new incoming call. The enhanced caller ID UI 16′, in thisexample, includes a name and other details portion 312 for displayingthe caller's name, title, company, etc.; a photo portion 314 fordisplaying a photo of the caller, if available; a mutual activitiesportion 316 for displaying activities common to the recipient and thecaller; a recent activities portion 318 for displaying recent activitiesof the caller; a mutual connections portion 320 for displaying contactsor other individuals that can be related to both the recipient and thecaller; and the answer button 264 and ignore button 266 described above.It can be appreciated that the items shown in the enhanced caller ID UI16′ in FIG. 30 are purely illustrative. For example, user profiles orpreferences, IT policies, or other criteria may be relied upon to selectfrom various items that may be displayed in the enhanced dossier UI 16′.It can also be appreciated that although the example discussed hereinshow generating the enhanced caller ID UI 16′ from a dossier UI 16, 17,any item related to the caller may be incorporated into the enhancecaller ID UI 16′ without departing from the principles discussed herein.

It can be seen that in this example, not only can the paired device 32′,having a relatively larger display size, display greater detail fromeach portion shown in FIG. 30 (wherein similar portions are shown inFIG. 31 using a (') for clarity), additional items may also bedisplayed. For example, as shown in FIG. 31, various links tocommunication media 332 may be displayed in the individual dossier UI16, as well as a mutual groups portion 334 providing links or access togroups common to both the recipient and the caller, both event based andpersistent. It can be appreciated that the items provided in theindividual dossier UI 16 shown in FIG. 31 can be interacted with tonavigate to, or pivot back and forth from, other dossier UIs 16, 17,item UIs 14, and application UIs 10 as discussed above.

FIGS. 32 and 33 illustrate example screen shots of a call screen UI 260displayed by the called device 32 and an individual dossier UI 16displayed by the paired device 32′ respectively during a call connectedat the called device 32. In this example, the call screen UI 260 retainsa name and other details portion 312″, a photo portion 314″, and amutual activities portion 316″ and includes a call data portion 336(e.g., length of call, status of call, etc.), a call options portion 338(e.g., speaker phone, mute, hold, add participant, keypad, calendar,etc.), and the end call button 268 discussed above. As shown in FIG. 33,the paired device 32′ may continue to display the same individualdossier UI 16 during the call. However, it can be appreciated thatduring the call, the user may interact with the individual dossier UI 16to navigate to, or pivot back and forth from, other dossier UIs 16, 17,item UIs 14, and application UIs 10 as discussed above.

FIG. 34 illustrates an example screen shot displayed by a paired device32′ including a prompt 342 displayed by the paired device 32′ after acall ends. Providing a prompt 342 as shown in FIG. 34 enables the callerID module 256′ on the paired device 32′ to provide an option to the userto keep the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 displayed during the call open, or toclose the dossier UI(s) 16, 17. The prompt 342 in this example includesa first option 344 to enable the user to have the paired device 32′ keepthe dossier UI(s) 16, 17 open, a second option 346 to enable the user tohave the called device 32 display the dossier UI(s) 16, 17, and a thirdoption to have the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 closed on either or both thecalled device 32 and the paired device 32′. It can be appreciated thatthe prompt shown in FIG. 34 is for illustrative purposes only and isentirely optional. For example, the dossier UI 16, 17 displayed by thepaired device 32′ may automatically persist after a call ends in thebackground such that the dossier UI 16, 17 is available for furthernavigation or may be closed by the user of the paired device 32′.Similarly, the options shown in the prompt 342 may also be included inthe dossier UI 16, 17 after the call.

As discussed above, in addition to enhancing a call by displayingindividual dossier UIs 16 related to the caller, group dossier UIs 17may also be displayed to provide enhanced caller ID for a conferencecall or other multi-participant call. Displaying an associated groupdossier UI 17 may therefore provide additional context for theconference or group call. Additionally, multiple individual dossier UIs16 for multiple call attendees may also be displayed on either or boththe called device 32 and the paired device 32′. For example, theincoming call may be detectable as a conference call (e.g., using an IDin the incoming call data 254, a group or calendar event, etc.) andindividual dossier UIs 16 obtained for each call attendees, as well as agroup dossier UI 17 for the meeting associated with the conference call,if available. The group dossier UI 17 may then be displayed on thecalled device 32 and the group dossier UI 17 and the individual dossierUIs 16 displayable on the paired device 32′.

Turning now to FIG. 35, an example configuration is shown for a calleddevice 32 to obtain multiple individual dossier UIs 16 and/or at leastone group dossier UI 17 to enhance context for a conference or groupcall and to provide enhanced caller ID information. In the example shownin FIG. 35, incoming call data 254 includes an ID that is associatedwith any one or more of at least one call attendee (e.g., the caller), acalling service (e.g., when arranging a conference call), and a group orevent associated with the call. The ID may then be used at stage 2 todetermine if there is an associated group or event, e.g., by accessingor otherwise communicating with a calendar application 350, groupapplication 352, etc. By accessing other applications, not only can thecaller ID module 256 provide context for the caller, the caller IDmodule 256 can determine relevant groups or associations, events such asmeetings, and call attendees that are likely part of or going to be partof the call. The ID sent to the dossier view module 46 may thereforeinclude identifying information related to one or more individuals andone or more groups such that at stage 4, multiple individual and groupdossier UIs 16, 17 or data related thereto may be provided to the callerID module 256. An enhanced caller ID UI 17′ displayed in stage 5 a onthe called device 32 may therefore include details of the conference orgroup call such as event or group details It the example shown in FIG.35, it may be assumed that the called device 32 is paired to a paireddevice 32′ and thus multiple individual and group dossier UIs 16, 17 maybe sent to the paired device in stage 5 b. It may also be assumed in theexample shown in FIG. 35 that the call is answered at stage 6 and a callscreen 260 displayed at stage 7.

FIG. 36 illustrates an example wherein the paired device 32′ displays agroup dossier UI 17 and multiple individual dossier UIs 16. For example,by detecting that the incoming call to be identified using the enhancedcaller ID UI 17′ on the called device 32 relates to a conference callwith multiple attendees, a group dossier UI 17 for the meeting may bedisplayed on the paired device 32′ along with individual dossier UIs 16for each attendee.

Rather than automatically displaying all available dossier UIs 16, 17 onthe paired device 32′, as shown in FIG. 37, a call attendees list 354may be displayed enabling the user to select one or more dossier UIs 16,17 associated with the call. In the example shown in FIG. 37, a pair ofattendees buttons 356 are displayed with a meeting button 358 to enablethe dossier UIs 16, 17 shown in FIG. 36 to be selectively displayedrather than automatically. It can be appreciated that the call attendeeslist 354 and buttons 356, 358 shown in FIG. 37 are illustrative only andvarious other navigational elements may be used in other examples.

Turning now to FIG. 38, an example set of computer executableinstructions is shown that may be performed by the caller ID module 256on the called device 32 in determining how many, if any, dossier UIs 16,17 are to be sent to the paired device 32′. At 360, the ID is used todetermine if a group or event exists, e.g., by accessing or queryingother applications such as the calendar application 350 and groupapplication 352 shown in FIG. 35. Based on such a determination, the IDthat is provided to the dossier view module 46 for fetching orgenerating corresponding dossier UIs 16, 17 may be updated, at 362, toinclude group or event data, including indications of other potentialcall attendees. The ID is used by the dossier view module 46 todetermine the associated individual and/or group dossier UIs 16, 17, at364, such that the dossier UI(s) 16, 17 may be fetched or generated andprovided to the caller ID module 256, at 366.

In addition to providing enhanced caller ID information for incomingcalls, the caller ID module 256 may also be operable to obtain anddisplay dossier UIs 16, 17 on the called device 32 and/or the paireddevice 32′, for outgoing calls. FIG. 39 illustrates an example set ofoperations that may be performed by the caller ID module 256 for anoutgoing call. At 370, the caller ID module 256 detects an outgoing calland uses call details to determine, at 372, if corresponding dossierUI(s) 16, 17 is/are available and relevant to the outgoing call. Forexample, the called number or other contact list details may be used todetermine who the recipient of the call is such that an individualdossier UI 16 can be displayed, e.g., using the paired device 32′ toenhance the caller's context regarding the individual being called. Inanother example, a conference call-in number may be selected from a linkin a calendar meeting whereupon a group dossier UI 17 for that meetingis displayed on the paired device 32′. As shown in FIG. 39, afterdetermining which if any dossier UIs 16, 17 are relevant to the outgoingcall, the caller ID module 256 may operate, for example, according tooperations 274-292, described above.

The principles discussed above regarding the amalgamation of UI elementsconcerning an individual or group (event based or persistent), can alsobe incorporated into electronic groups that are created, modified, anddeleted on or by a mobile device 32, including groups containing membersthat utilize other types of devices.

FIG. 40 illustrates an example of a group 400 including, in thisexample, four members 401. Each group member 401 may access at least onecommunication network 409 using one or more devices 407. Access to thenetworks 409 enables the group members 401 to communicate with eachother using various devices 407 available to the group members 401.Group memberships and data and information associated with the group 400may be stored in a cloud computing infrastructure 404 accessible via thenetworks 409. The cloud computing infrastructure 404 includes a groupserver 402 and group database 406 to enable group members 401 and theirrespective devices 407 to determine which individuals are in aparticular group in order to leverage the capabilities of the device 407currently being used to create a group experience. For example,messaging capabilities on a mobile device 32 can be leveraged whenaccessing and communicating with a group 400 using a mobile device 32,whereas fewer bandwidth constraints can be leveraged when accessing andcommunicating with the group 400 using a desktop computer.

It can be appreciated that when a group member 401 uses a mobile device32, information on the mobile device 32 can be used to supplementinformation from the group server 402 and group database 306. In thisway, particular devices 407 used by the group members 401 can enhancethe group experience when compared to other devices 407. For example, agroup member 401 using a mobile device 32 may have a better experiencethan when using a PC or other devices, since the mobile device 32 mayhave access to additional group member information such as location,calendar information, memos, photos, messages, etc., which may becombined with information returned from the group server 402 and groupdatabase 406 to provide individual group members 401 with a morecomplete and integrated view of the group members 401 and theiractivity.

The devices 407 capable of accessing the communication networks 409 maytherefore include mobile devices 32, and other electronic devices 408such as a desktop computer, kiosk, smart home system, etc. In theexample shown in FIG. 40, group member A is configured to access theinternet 410 via a network access point 412 in communication with afirst device 408, Device A1. Group member A may also access a wirelessnetwork 34 using a mobile device 32, Device A2. Both communicationchannels enable group member A to determine the membership of the group400 and related information, by accessing the group server 402 and groupdatabase 406. The cloud computing infrastructure 404 retains enoughgroup data to enable a member 401 to generate a user interface and userexperience on the particular device 407 being used, without having tostore all relevant group data. For example, when accessing the groupserver 402 using a mobile device 32, the mobile device 32 can use themembership of the group as specified by the group server 402 to generatea group dossier UI 17 and leverage data and communication capabilitiesavailable on the mobile device 32. It can be appreciated that Devices B,C, and D are shown for illustrative purposes only and may represent anyone or more devices 407 utilized by group members B, C, and Drespectively.

The devices 407 may communicate with each other via the networks 409 inperforming group operations such as sharing data, sharing calendarevents, sharing media items (e.g., pictures, videos, documents, etc.),messaging with each other, sharing tasks or lists of items, etc. It canbe appreciated that the group 400 may be facilitated by a server locatedin a network or other infrastructure (not shown) or may be maintained byeach device 407 in a “serverless” configuration wherein the devices 407share, update, and maintain common data in local databases.

In one example, the group server 402 may be the same server used infacilitating group operations, or may be a server that is usedindependent of any service that supports the group 400. For example, thegroup 400 may be supported by a server or other component of a wirelessnetwork infrastructure (e.g., wireless router or relay) whereas thegroup server 402 is provided and maintained by a separate service withinthe cloud computing infrastructure 404, e.g., a web-based serviceaccessible to the networks 409.

By maintaining the group database 406 in the cloud computinginfrastructure 404, group data and group activities can be monitored andcontributed to by group members 401 using multiple devices 407 anddevice types. It can be appreciated that shifting or copying group data(e.g., changing group membership) to the cloud computing infrastructure404 facilitates a more seamless group experience by enabling a user toparticipate in the group using multiple and different devices 407 whilebeing able to leverage capabilities and advantages provided by suchdifferent devices 407.

FIG. 41 illustrates an example of a configuration for a mobile device 32that includes a group module 420 for group operations and enables agroup member 401 to leverage the capabilities of the mobile device 32when participating in the group, e.g., by generating dossier UIs 16 forother group members 401. The group module 420 in this example is shownas being independent of a group application 424 for illustrativepurposes only and may instead be an integral portion of the groupapplication 424. The group module 420 is communicable with the dossierview module 46 described above, to enable group dossier UIs 17 to becreated, updated, and deleted from groups established via the groupmodule 420 and/or group application 424. The group module 420 isoperable to send and receive group data 426 using a communicationsubsystem 44 of the mobile device 32 and includes or otherwise hasaccess to a local copy or version of the group database 406 formaintaining and/or synchronizing group data 426. The group module 420also enables a group UI 428 to be displayed using a display 62 of themobile device 32. It can be appreciated that the group UI 428 may alsobe displayed by the dossier view module 46 and/or group application 424.

The group module 420 is operable to automatically create new groupsbased on events such as detecting proximity with at least one contact,frequent messaging between contacts, common calendar events with othercontacts, common media content being consumed, etc. Such new groups maybe short lived or ephemeral, based on a detectable duration of the eventthat triggered creation of the group 400, or may be longer term, e.g.,based on a registration, membership, or other change in status withrespect to an organization or group of individuals. Examples ofrelatively longer term groups include, without limitation, “friends fromcollege”, “family members”, “hockey friends”, “church friends”, etc.Create group instructions 430 may be generated by the group module 420and provided to the group application 424 or dossier view module 46 toenable new groups 400 to be created. For example, detecting that atleast one contact in an address book or contact list is proximate to themobile device 32 may trigger the creation of a new group 400 wherein agroup dossier UI 17 is also generated to pull in data and informationthat is available with respect to the group members. At the same time,an existing group application 424 such as a group component of aninstant messaging application, may also be created for the purpose ofenabling messaging between group members. Group creation instructions430 may be generated in response to user input, external data, or bydetecting other events, such as proximate locations. For example, thegroup module 420 may be operable to obtain location information forcontacts of the user of the mobile device 32 and compare the locationinformation to a current location of the mobile device 32. The currentlocation of the mobile device 32 may be obtained in various ways, e.g.,by accessing a global positioning system (GPS) receiver 421 of themobile device 32. Another example of detecting an event includesdetermining that the user has been regularly emailing the same groupabout a particular topic (e.g., upcoming meetings, concerts, hockeygames, etc.). Yet another example of detecting an event includesdetermining that the user regularly schedules conference calls with thesame (or similar) group of individuals (e.g., a collection of staff atwork). Group creation instructions 430 based on external data or eventsdetectable by the mobile device 32 may therefore include variousdetectable correlations, associations, linkages, etc., betweencollections of users or contacts.

Modify group instructions 432 may also be generated by the group module420 and provided to the group application 424 and/or dossier view module46 for adding or removing members, deleting the group 400, removing themobile device 32 from a group 400 that will persist, etc.

Tasks may be created in association with a group 400 and those tasksassigned to one or more members of the group 400. For example, a group400 that is formed based on a detected calendar event for a meeting mayenable tasks leading up to the meeting to be created. A new task may becreated by interacting with the mobile device 32 and the group UI 428,e.g., by interacting with the display 62 and/or other input device 258such as a keyboard. Task data 434 is generated for creating a new task,modifying an existing task, deleting or completing a task, andperforming other operations associated with a group task.

The group module 420 can automatically generate a new group 400 based onvarious detectable events. For example, detecting that one or morecontacts is/are within a predetermined distance of the current locationof the mobile device 32 may cause an automatic group 400 including thosecontacts to be formed. FIG. 42 illustrates a location-based group UI 450for displaying a map 452 showing a current location 454 for the mobiledevice 32 and friend locations 456 of those contacts within apredetermined distance from the mobile device 32. The location-basedgroup UI 450 may be created automatically when at least one contact iswithin the predetermined distance and invite others to join as contactsare detected within this range. The location-based group UI 450 in thisexample provides a group dossier view for the members of the newlyformed group 400. A communication media portion 458 is provided whichincludes a number of communication media 460 that may be used to contactthe contacts in the group 400. For example, a phone icon, IM icon, andemail icon may be displayed to enable the respective communication mediato be used to get in touch with the group members. Messaging groups maybe automatically formed, e.g., by accessing a group application 424 andcreating a new group within that group application 424. A group activityportion 462 can be used to display various types of group activity,including recent messages in a related messaging group. A related dataportion 464 may also be included for displaying other data andinformation pulled from other sources. For example, the related dataportion 464 may include the same information as the recent activityportion 142 of an individual dossier UI 16 (see FIG. 10) but may includea combined collection of recent activities for all group members.

The group 400 formed based on the proximity of various contact as shownin FIG. 42 may be automatically deleted as the proximity of the contactsdisappears. FIG. 43 illustrates a group update UI 466 in which a groupupdate message 468 is displayed indicating that “Bob” has left the areaand is no longer in the group 400. It can be appreciated that similargroup updates 466 may be displayed as other members leave the areadefining the location-based group, until the group no longer exists, atwhich time the group can be deleted.

Similar UIs may be generated automatically based on other events. Forexample, detecting that the user of the mobile device 32 has created oraccepted an invitation to a meeting or appointment can trigger the groupmodule 420 to create a new group and group dossier UI 17 related to thecalendar event as discussed above.

FIG. 44 illustrates a car pool group UI 472 that has been generated fora longer term group. The car pool group UI 472 is, in the example shownin FIG. 44, generated as a group dossier UI 17 and includes a photo 474or other identifier for the group, a group name 476, a car pool schedule478, and a number of group operation buttons 480. The car pool group UI472 also includes an identifier 484 for each group member, a recentactivity portion 486 (e.g., combined recent activity for all groupmembers), and an upcoming events portion 488. By selecting a groupmember identifier 484, the group module 420 may initiate a pivot to anindividual dossier UI 16 for the associated member. Of the groupoperation buttons 480 is a task button 482. By selecting the task button482 as shown in FIG. 44, a group task UI 490 is displayed, as shown inFIG. 45. The group task UI 490 includes a member selection mechanism 492for selecting a particular member to assign the task to, and a groupselection box 494 for assigning the task group wide. The group task UI490 also includes a date selection button 496 for assigning a date forcompleting the task, and a task name box 498 for assigning a task name.By selecting a create button 500, the task may be generated. Byselecting a cancel button 502, the task creation operation may beaborted.

After a new task has been created using the group task UI 490, a tasklist portion 504 is created in the car pool group UI 472 as shown inFIG. 46. It can be appreciated that by enabling tasks to be created inthe manner shown in FIGS. 44 to 46, group dossier UIs 17, groupapplications 424, group database 406 in the mobile devices 32 of thegroup members and in the cloud computing infrastructure 404 can beupdated in concert to allow other members to view the tasks, be assignedto tasks, and to access and view tasks from other electronic devices408. In this way, group interactions can propagate throughout a socialnetwork and become part of the UIs between which a user can pivot andwith which the user can interact as discussed herein.

As discussed above, it can be appreciated that a car pool group is onlyone example of a group 400. For example, groups of friends, familymembers, co-workers, teams, committees, etc., may also be formedaccording to the principles discussed herein.

It can also be appreciated that location-based groups as illustrated inFIGS. 42-46 are only one example of a type of group. For example, groupsmay be formed based on various other associations such as frequentmessaging, common interests, common memberships or organizations, etc.

FIG. 47 illustrates example computer executable operations that may beperformed in creating a new location-based group 400. At 510, a firstmember associated with a first mobile device 32 (hereinafter Member A)detects that a second member associated with a second mobile device 32(hereinafter Member B) is within range. Similarly, Member B also detectsthat Member A is within range, at 512, assuming both mobile devices 32are currently sharing location data. Member A automatically creates thenew group 400 at 514, and Member B automatically creates the new group400 at 516. In this example, Member B sends group data 426 to the groupserver 402 in the cloud computing infrastructure 404 at 518. However itcan be appreciated that Member A may also send group data to the groupserver 402 to enable the group server 402 to receive the group data 426for the new group, at 520, and create the new group, at 524. It can beappreciated that, as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 47, the group server402 may also create the new group, at 522, at the same time as Member Aand Member B, e.g., if the group server 402 is privy to the eventcausing Member A and Member B to create the new group.

Once the group server 402 has created the new group 400 that has beenautomatically created by Member A and Member B, the group server 402 canprovide access to the group data 426, at 526, to enable other electronicdevices 408 accessing a group application, at 528, to access the groupdata 426 from “the cloud,” at 530. Since the group server 402 has beenprovided with the group data 426 associated with the new group, theelectronic device 408 can be used to perform a group operation, at 532,and have group data sent, at 534, to the group server 402 and memberdevices 32 to be received at 536, 538, 540. It can be appreciated thatas shown in FIG. 47, the electronic device 408 may be operable to sendthe group data directly to both the group server 402 and the membermobile devices 32 or may have the group server 402 send the group data426 on behalf of the electronic device 408.

Providing access to the group server 402 for electronic devices 408enables users to more conveniently interact with groups using multiple“entry points”. For example, a user with a mobile device 32 may beautomatically added to a new group while stationary at work, whenfriends are detected close by. Instead of only being able to interactwith the new group using their mobile device 32, by accessing the groupserver 402 using another electronic device 408 such as their desktopcomputer, group operations can be seamlessly performed regardless of thedevice being used. This access provided to the electronic device 408, inaddition to sharing of group data 426 between tethered devices (e.g., asdiscussed above), enables a single user to participate in a group usingmultiple devices in a convenient manner.

FIG. 48 illustrates example computer executable operations that may beperformed in removing a member from a location-based electronic group.Member A detects that Member B is out of range, at 542, and Member Blikewise detects that Member A is out of range, at 544, assuming themobile devices 32 are sharing location information. In the exampleshowing in FIG. 48, it may be assumed that there is at least oneadditional member in the group and thus Member A remains in the groupwhile Member B is removed from the group by Member A, at 546. Member Bthen deletes the group and group data 426, at 548. Member A sends groupdata 426 to the cloud, at 550, indicative of the removal of Member Bfrom the group, which is received by the group server 402, at 552, andthe group membership updated, at 556 and access permissions adjusted, at558, e.g., to prevent Member B from having further access to the groupdatabase 406. It can be appreciated that, as shown in dashed lines inFIG. 48, the group server 402 may also update the group membership, at554, at the same time as Member B deletes the group, at 548, e.g., ifthe group server 402 is privy to this operation.

FIG. 49 illustrates example computer executable operations that may beperformed in enabling a new group task to be created. At 560, a taskcreation option is provided, e.g., by providing the task button 482 asshown in FIG. 44. The group module 420 detects selection of the taskcreation option, at 562, and enables a task to be created, at 564, e.g.,by displaying a group task UI 490 as shown in FIG. 45. The group module420 determines, at 566, whether or not the new task has been confirmed.If not (e.g., if the cancel button 502 is selected), the process ends at568. If the task has been confirmed, an associated group UI (e.g., carpool group UI 472 shown in FIGS. 44-46) is updated, at 570, and thegroup database 406 updated, at 572. It can be appreciated that groupdata 426 may also be sent to the cloud in order for the group server 402to update the server-based group database 406 as discussed above.

Accordingly, there is provided a method of operating an electronicdevice, the method comprising: detecting a first input in a first userinterface; displaying a second user interface comprising a firstplurality of data items obtained from a plurality of sources, the firstplurality of data items including a first data item associated with thefirst user interface and a second data item associated with a third userinterface; detecting a second input selecting the second data item inthe second user interface; displaying the third user interface;detecting a third input which results in navigating away from the thirduser interface; and displaying the second user interface.

There is also provided a mobile device comprising a processor, memory,and a display, the memory comprising computer executable instructionsfor operating the mobile device to: detect a first input in a first userinterface; display a second user interface comprising a first pluralityof data items obtained from a plurality of sources, the first pluralityof data items including a first data item associated with the first userinterface and a second data item associated with a third user interface;detect a second input selecting the second data item in the second userinterface; display the third user interface; detect a third input whichresults in navigating away from the third user interface; and displaythe second user interface.

There is also provided a computer readable storage medium comprisingcomputer executable instructions for operating a mobile device, thecomputer executable instructions comprising instructions for: detectinga first input in a first user interface; displaying a second userinterface comprising a first plurality of data items obtained from aplurality of sources, the first plurality of data items including afirst data item associated with the first user interface and a seconddata item associated with a third user interface; detecting a secondinput selecting the second data item in the second user interface;displaying the third user interface; detecting a third input whichresults in navigating away from the third user interface; and displayingthe second user interface.

Referring to FIG. 50, to further aid in the understanding of the examplemobile devices 32, 32′ described above, shown therein is a block diagramof an example configuration of a mobile device 32. The mobile device 32includes a number of components such as a main processor 602 thatcontrols the overall operation of the mobile device 32. Communicationfunctions, including data and voice communications, are performedthrough a communication subsystem 44. The communication subsystem 44receives messages from and sends messages to a wireless network 34. Inthis example of the mobile device 32, the communication subsystem 44 isconfigured in accordance with the Global System for Mobile Communication(GSM) and General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) standards, which is usedworldwide. Other communication configurations that are equallyapplicable are the 3G and 4G networks such as Enhanced Data-rates forGlobal Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS) and High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Long TermEvolution (LTE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(Wi-Max), etc. New standards are still being defined, but it is believedthat they will have similarities to the network behavior describedherein, and it will also be understood by persons skilled in the artthat the examples described herein are intended to use any othersuitable standards that are developed in the future. The wireless linkconnecting the communication subsystem 44 with the wireless network 34represents one or more different Radio Frequency (RF) channels,operating according to defined protocols specified for GSM/GPRScommunications.

The main processor 602 also interacts with additional subsystems such asa Random Access Memory (RAM) 606, a flash memory 608, a touch-sensitivedisplay 660, an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 612, a data port614, a keyboard 616 (physical, virtual, or both), a speaker 618, amicrophone 620, a GPS receiver 421, short-range communications subsystem262, a camera 623, a accelerometer 625 and other device subsystems 624.Some of the subsystems of the mobile device 32 performcommunication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may provide“resident” or on-device functions. By way of example, the display 660and the keyboard 616 may be used for both communication-relatedfunctions, such as entering a text message for transmission over thewireless network 34, and device-resident functions such as a calculatoror task list. In one example, the mobile device 32 can include a nontouch-sensitive display in place of, or in addition to thetouch-sensitive display 660. For example the touch-sensitive display 660can be replaced by a display 62 that may not have touch-sensitivecapabilities.

The mobile device 32 can send and receive communication signals over thewireless network 34 after required network registration or activationprocedures have been completed. Network access is associated with asubscriber or user of the mobile device 32. To identify a subscriber,the mobile device 32 may use a subscriber module component or “smartcard” 626, such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), a Removable UserIdentity Module (RUIM) and a Universal Subscriber Identity Module(USIM). In the example shown, a SIM/RUIM/USIM 626 is to be inserted intoa SIM/RUIM/USIM interface 628 in order to communicate with a network.

The mobile device 32 is typically a battery-powered device and includesa battery interface 632 for receiving one or more rechargeable batteries630. In at least some examples, the battery 630 can be a smart batterywith an embedded microprocessor. The battery interface 632 is coupled toa regulator (not shown), which assists the battery 630 in providingpower to the mobile device 32. Although current technology makes use ofa battery, future technologies such as micro fuel cells may provide thepower to the mobile device 32.

The mobile device 32 also includes an operating system 634 and softwarecomponents 636 to 646. The operating system 634 and the softwarecomponents 636 to 646 that are executed by the main processor 602 aretypically stored in a persistent store such as the flash memory 608,which may alternatively be a read-only memory (ROM) or similar storageelement (not shown). Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatportions of the operating system 634 and the software components 636 to646, such as specific device applications, or parts thereof, may betemporarily loaded into a volatile store such as the RAM 606. Othersoftware components can also be included, as is well known to thoseskilled in the art.

The subset of software applications 636 that control basic deviceoperations, including data and voice communication applications, may beinstalled on the mobile device 32 during its manufacture. Softwareapplications may include a message application 638, a device statemodule 640, a Personal Information Manager (PIM) 642, a connect module644 and an IT policy module 646. A message application 638 can be anysuitable software program that allows a user of the mobile device 32 tosend and receive electronic messages, wherein messages are typicallystored in the flash memory 608 of the mobile device 32. A device statemodule 640 provides persistence, i.e. the device state module 640ensures that important device data is stored in persistent memory, suchas the flash memory 608, so that the data is not lost when the mobiledevice 32 is turned off or loses power. A PIM 642 includes functionalityfor organizing and managing data items of interest to the user, such as,but not limited to, e-mail, contacts, calendar events, and voice mails,and may interact with the wireless network 34. A connect module 644implements the communication protocols that are required for the mobiledevice 32 to communicate with the wireless infrastructure and any hostsystem, such as an enterprise system, that the mobile device 32 isauthorized to interface with. An IT policy module 646 receives IT policydata that encodes the IT policy, and may be responsible for organizingand securing rules such as the “Set Maximum Password Attempts” ITpolicy.

Other types of software applications or components 639 can also beinstalled on the mobile device 32. These software applications 639 canbe pre-installed applications (i.e. other than message application 638)or third party applications, which are added after the manufacture ofthe mobile device 32. Examples of third party applications includegames, calculators, utilities, etc.

The additional applications 639 can be loaded onto the mobile device 32through at least one of the wireless network 34, the auxiliary I/Osubsystem 612, the data port 614, the short-range communicationssubsystem 262, or any other suitable device subsystem 624.

The data port 614 can be any suitable port that enables datacommunication between the mobile device 32 and another computing device.The data port 614 can be a serial or a parallel port. In some instances,the data port 614 can be a USB port that includes data lines for datatransfer and a supply line that can provide a charging current to chargethe battery 630 of the mobile device 32.

For voice communications, received signals are output to the speaker618, and signals for transmission are generated by the microphone 620.Although voice or audio signal output is accomplished primarily throughthe speaker 618, the display 660 can also be used to provide additionalinformation such as the identity of a calling party, duration of a voicecall, or other voice call related information.

The touch-sensitive display 660 may be any suitable touch-sensitivedisplay, such as a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acousticwave (SAW) touch-sensitive display, strain gauge, optical imaging,dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, and so forth,as known in the art. In the presently described example, thetouch-sensitive display 660 is a capacitive touch-sensitive displaywhich includes a capacitive touch-sensitive overlay 664. The overlay 664may be an assembly of multiple layers in a stack which may include, forexample, a substrate, a ground shield layer, a barrier layer, one ormore capacitive touch sensor layers separated by a substrate or otherbarrier, and a cover. The capacitive touch sensor layers may be anysuitable material, such as patterned indium tin oxide (ITO).

The display 662 of the touch-sensitive display 660 may include a displayarea in which information may be displayed, and a non-display areaextending around the periphery of the display area. Information is notdisplayed in the non-display area, which is utilized to accommodate, forexample, electronic traces or electrical connections, adhesives or othersealants, and/or protective coatings around the edges of the displayarea.

One or more touches, also known as touch contacts or touch events, maybe detected by the touch-sensitive display 660. The processor 602 maydetermine attributes of the touch, including a location of a touch.Touch location data may include an area of contact or a single point ofcontact, such as a point at or near a center of the area of contact,known as the centroid. A signal is provided to the controller 666 inresponse to detection of a touch. A touch may be detected from anysuitable object, such as a finger, thumb, appendage, or other items, forexample, a stylus, pen, or other pointer, depending on the nature of thetouch-sensitive display 660. The location of the touch moves as thedetected object moves during a touch. The controller 666 and/or theprocessor 602 may detect a touch by any suitable contact member on thetouch-sensitive display 660. Similarly, multiple simultaneous touches,are detected.

One or more gestures are also detected by the touch-sensitive display660. A gesture is a particular type of touch on a touch-sensitivedisplay 660 that begins at an origin point and continues to an endpoint. A gesture may be identified by attributes of the gesture,including the origin point, the end point, the distance travelled, theduration, the velocity, and the direction, for example. A gesture may belong or short in distance and/or duration. Two points of the gesture maybe utilized to determine a direction of the gesture.

An example of a gesture is a swipe (also known as a “flick”). A swipehas a single direction. The touch-sensitive overlay 664 may evaluateswipes with respect to the origin point at which contact is initiallymade with the touch-sensitive overlay 664 and the end point at whichcontact with the touch-sensitive overlay 664 ends rather than using eachof location or point of contact over the duration of the gesture toresolve a direction.

Examples of swipes include a horizontal swipe, a vertical swipe, and adiagonal swipe. A horizontal swipe typically comprises an origin pointtowards the left or right side of the touch-sensitive overlay 664 toinitialize the gesture, a horizontal movement of the detected objectfrom the origin point to an end point towards the right or left side ofthe touch-sensitive overlay 664 while maintaining continuous contactwith the touch-sensitive overlay 664, and a breaking of contact with thetouch-sensitive overlay 664. Similarly, a vertical swipe typicallycomprises an origin point towards the top or bottom of thetouch-sensitive overlay 664 to initialize the gesture, a horizontalmovement of the detected object from the origin point to an end pointtowards the bottom or top of the touch-sensitive overlay 664 whilemaintaining continuous contact with the touch-sensitive overlay 664, anda breaking of contact with the touch-sensitive overlay 664.

Swipes can be of various lengths, can be initiated in various places onthe touch-sensitive overlay 664, and need not span the full dimension ofthe touch-sensitive overlay 664. In addition, breaking contact of aswipe can be gradual in that contact with the touch-sensitive overlay664 is gradually reduced while the swipe is still underway.

Meta-navigation gestures may also be detected by the touch-sensitiveoverlay 664. A meta-navigation gesture is a gesture that has an originpoint that is outside the display area of the touch-sensitive overlay664 and that moves to a position on the display area of thetouch-sensitive display. Other attributes of the gesture may be detectedand be utilized to detect the meta-navigation gesture. Meta-navigationgestures may also include multi-touch gestures in which gestures aresimultaneous or overlap in time and at least one of the touches has anorigin point that is outside the display area and moves to a position onthe display area of the touch-sensitive overlay 664. Thus, two fingersmay be utilized for meta-navigation gestures. Further, multi-touchmeta-navigation gestures may be distinguished from single touchmeta-navigation gestures and may provide additional or furtherfunctionality.

In some examples, an optional force sensor 670 or force sensors isdisposed in any suitable location, for example, between thetouch-sensitive display 660 and a back of the mobile device 32 to detecta force imparted by a touch on the touch-sensitive display 660. Theforce sensor 670 may be a force-sensitive resistor, strain gauge,piezoelectric or piezoresistive device, pressure sensor, or othersuitable device. Force as utilized throughout the specification refersto force measurements, estimates, and/or calculations, such as pressure,deformation, stress, strain, force density, force-area relationships,thrust, torque, and other effects that include force or relatedquantities.

Force information related to a detected touch may be utilized to selectinformation, such as information associated with a location of a touch.For example, a touch that does not meet a force threshold may highlighta selection option, whereas a touch that meets a force threshold mayselect or input that selection option. Selection options include, forexample, displayed or virtual keys of a keyboard; selection boxes orwindows, e.g., “cancel,” “delete,” or “unlock”; function buttons, suchas play or stop on a music player; and so forth. Different magnitudes offorce may be associated with different functions or input. For example,a lesser force may result in panning, and a higher force may result inzooming.

It will be appreciated that any module or component exemplified hereinthat executes instructions may include or otherwise have access tocomputer readable media such as storage media, computer storage media,or data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, forexample, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Computer storage mediamay include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage of information, suchas computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data. Examples of computer storage media include RAM, ROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks(DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to store the desired information and which canbe accessed by an application, module, or both. Any such computerstorage media may be part of the mobile device 32, any component of orrelated to the communication system 44, etc., or accessible orconnectable thereto. Any application or module herein described may beimplemented using computer readable/executable instructions that may bestored or otherwise held by such computer readable media.

The steps or operations in the flow charts and diagrams described hereinare just for example. There may be many variations to these steps oroperations without departing from the principles discussed above. Forinstance, the steps may be performed in a differing order, or steps maybe added, deleted, or modified.

Although the above principles have been described with reference tocertain specific examples, various modifications thereof will beapparent to those skilled in the art as outlined in the appended claims.

1. A method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising:detecting a first input in a first user interface; displaying a seconduser interface comprising a first plurality of data items obtained froma plurality of sources, the first plurality of data items including afirst data item associated with the first user interface and a seconddata item associated with a third user interface; detecting a secondinput selecting the second data item in the second user interface;displaying the third user interface; detecting a third input whichresults in navigating away from the third user interface; and displayingthe second user interface.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdetecting a fourth input which results in navigating away from thesecond user interface, and displaying the first user interface.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the fourth input comprises any one of:selection of an option displayed in the second user interface; a swipegesture in the second user interface; and selection of a button on theelectronic device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the third inputcomprises any one of: sending a message; closing the third userinterface; and selection of a link displayed in the third user interfaceassociated with an entity related to the first plurality of data items.5. The method of claim 4, wherein the entity related to the plurality ofdata items is any one of an individual, a group of individuals, and agroup event.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the third user interfacecomprises a second plurality of data items obtained from a plurality ofsources, the second plurality of data items being associated with afirst entity different from a second entity associated with the seconduser interface.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein one of the first andsecond entities is an individual, and the other of the first and secondentities is related to one of a group of individuals and a group event.8. The method of claim 6, wherein prior to detecting the third input,the method further comprises: detecting a fifth input selecting one ofthe second plurality of data items in the third user interface; anddisplaying a fourth user interface.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the plurality of sources is remote from the electronicdevice.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one sourceremote from the electronic device comprises a social networking server.11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the firstplurality of data items is obtained in real time from a respectivesource after detecting the first input.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein the third user interface relates to a first messagingapplication, the method further comprising detecting a sixth input inthe second user interface after detecting the third input, anddisplaying a fifth user interface related to a second messagingapplication.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of thefirst, second, and third user interfaces is displayed on anotherelectronic device communicable with the electronic device.
 14. A mobiledevice comprising a processor, memory, and a display, the memorycomprising computer executable instructions for operating the mobiledevice to: detect a first input in a first user interface; display asecond user interface comprising a first plurality of data itemsobtained from a plurality of sources, the first plurality of data itemsincluding a first data item associated with the first user interface anda second data item associated with a third user interface; detect asecond input selecting the second data item in the second userinterface; display the third user interface; detect a third input whichresults in navigating away from the third user interface; and displaythe second user interface.
 15. A computer readable storage mediumcomprising computer executable instructions for operating a mobiledevice, the computer executable instructions comprising instructionsfor: detecting a first input in a first user interface; displaying asecond user interface comprising a first plurality of data itemsobtained from a plurality of sources, the first plurality of data itemsincluding a first data item associated with the first user interface anda second data item associated with a third user interface; detecting asecond input selecting the second data item in the second userinterface; displaying the third user interface; detecting a third inputwhich results in navigating away from the third user interface; anddisplaying the second user interface.